Fans spew ignorance on Twitter
Twitter can be a useful tool for communication, but in the aftermath of the Washington Capitals’ Game 7 overtime win over the Boston Bruins, it became a vehicle for disseminating ignorance and hatred.
The winning goal was scored by Joel Ward, whose perseverance and dedication should be an inspiration to all. It’s understandable that Bruins fans were upset their team lost Wednesday night, but instead of accepting defeat gracefully, dozens of fans seized on the fact Ward is black and aimed their invective against him.
There were dozens of messages that used the N-word. Fans railed at nesn for showing replays of the winning goal. Two mental midgets with the handles Realsteezy-Dubz and Ethandagxd went as far as to suggest Ward be lynched, a painful reference to the dark days of U.S. history when lynching was commonplace in the South. And there isn’t enough soap in the world to wash out the potty mouth of one Connmac96, who used his 140 characters for a string of words you can’t say on television.
It should be pointed out that the ignorance wasn’t confined to Boston fans. There were also messages from Capitals fans directed at Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, who infamously snubbed U.S. President Barack Obama when his teammates visited the White House as the Stanley Cup champions. Washington fans took delight in the fact Thomas gave up the deciding goal and branded him as a racist.
While I don’t agree with Thomas’s politics, they should have no bearing on what happens on the ice. He and Ward are both hardworking individuals who had to overcome rejection, and they deserve to be admired for their efforts.
The Washington-boston series marked the first time that each game in a sevengame series was decided by a single goal, and fans on both sides should be able to take some joy in the fact they were treated to two weeks of exciting hockey.
One of the sad consequences of the racist tweets is that they reflect poorly on the city of Boston. While a relatively small group of yahoos were involved in the latest controversy, it’s another reminder the city that prides itself on its many universities and its place in American history also has a history of fractious race relations.
This was the city that was torn apart in the 1970s when Judge W. Arthur Garrity ordered an end to the de facto segregation of Boston schools. The ruling, which led to the busing of students from one school to another, led to Garrity being labelled “the most hated man in Boston.”
The racial divide in the city extended to Boston’s sports teams. The Red Sox were the last major-league team to field a black player. During the late 1950s and through most of the following decade, the Boston Celtics were the dominant team in the National Basketball Association with black stars like Bill Russell, K.C. Jones and Tom (Satch) Sanders. In 1964, when Red Auerbach became the first coach to start five black players, the Celtics had trouble filling the old Boston Garden because fans complained the team had too many black players. There was never an empty seat for a Bruins game.
You can’t legislate an end to prejudice or ignorance, but I agree with Capitals owner Ted Leonsis that everything possible should be done to identify those who have abused the privilege of freedom of speech.
“Shame on these folks who decided to take to their keyboards and show their ignorance and their racism and hate,” Leonsis wrote on his blog Thursday. “What these people have said and done is unforgivable. I hope they are now publicly identified and pay a huge price for their beliefs.
“There should be zero tolerance for this kind of hate mongering,” he added. “their messages should now stay glued into the algorithms to place a forever warning and a mark upon these people and their actions. They shouldn’t be able to escape their keystrokes.
“We will, as an organization, support Joel Ward. He has been a great teammate and a great citizen. He is now the star of stars in our city for his heroics last night. He is a friend and a fantastic player – who delivered – as advertised for us and our fans in the playoffs.”